Huntsville gazette., 1887-04-30
COBRA STORIES.
How the Deadly Reptile is Charmed
by Music.
Its Unpleasant Fondness for Dwelling
Houses-Hunting in Couples-The
Cobra's Fear Of Fire-A Disagree
able Bed-FellOw.

One Of the most dangerous snakes in
the world belongs to India and the ad-
jacent countries. He is the cobra-tii-
capcllo (snake with a shood), and was
so named by the Portuguese, on ac-
count Of the resemblance to hood
which is formed by puffs OF the skin at
each side Of the neck, which are swol-
len when the creature is enraged. The
general coloro this serpent is black.
Sometimes he is called the spectacle
snake" because the spots on the back
of the hood resemble psir Of specta-
cles.
Jugglers tame these snakes, and ex-
hibitsthcrn. The reptiles have curl
Gus fondness for music, and the snake
charmers call them out of their holes
by playing peculiar air on q flute.
They carry their cobras in wicker
baskets. When an exhibition is to be
given, the basket is placed on the
ground, and the cover removed The
snakes lie. coiled beneath blankets in
the basket, and give no sign of their
existence until the performer squats
near them and begins playing on a sort
of flute.
In a few moments the cloth moves,
and the head of a cobra appears and
rises slowly. The music continues, and
after listening for two or three minutes,
the snake crawls from the basket and
assumes an erect position in front Of
the player. The rapidity of the music
increases, and then the serpent sways
his head from side to side and makes a
kind Of dancing. motion with his body.
When the music stops he lowers his
head, and if the playing is not re-
sumed, goes slowly back to his basket.
and disappears among the blankets.
The jugglers wind the snakes around
their limbs and bodies, and not infre-
quently the serpents seem to have an
affection for their masters. The latter
90 through a variety of tricks with
their strange pets, and when all are
concluded the cobras are returned to
their baskets, and the spectators are
solicited for pecuniary reward for the
showman's s benefit.
The bite of the cobra is generally
fatal. The snake-charmers have anti
dotes of their own, which they carefully
keep secret. \ The English physicians
give arsensic in liberal doses, either in
pills or in Fowler's solution, and they
also fill the patient with large quanti-
ties of alcoholic stimulants, in the same
way that the bite of the rattlesnake is
treated in America.
From fifteen to twenty thousand lives
are lost in India every year from the
bites of serpents, the great majority OF
them having been caused by the bite OF
the cobra. Europeans are rarely bit
ten, as they do not often walk in the
grass, and besides. their feet are COW
cred with shoes and their legs with
clothing, while the natives are nearly
always naked from the sole Of the foot
to the knee. Furthermore. there are
two hundred millions of natives in
India, and less than quarter OF mil
lion of Europeans. One is reminded
of the old conundrum: 'sWhy do white
sheep eat more hay than black oncs?''
to which the answer is: because there
are more Of them"
Cobras have an unpleasant fondness
for dwelling houses, and persons living
in India encounter the constant posi-
bility Of putting their feet on one OF
these reptiles on stepping out OF bed
in the night, or of finding one in his
coat-sleeve or trOuser-leg in the morn
inc. 1t is the custom to burn lamp
Mt night to keep out these disagreeable
visitors, as they have dread of fire
similar to that shown by wolves and
other wild animals. If you wake dur
ing the night, and find that the light
from the lamp in your sleepin groom
has gone out, do not stir, but lie still
and shout fora servant to restore it.
Quite possibly, when he enters the
room with burning lamp, cobra
may glide through the doorway and
disappear. The cobra does not bite
unless disturbed. or trampled upon.
He is tinlid, and will seek safety in
fight when he can do so, but if ''cor-
nered'' he will stand up and defend
himself with his deadly fangs.
One day when L was the guest OF a
gentleman on Malabar Hill, the fash
ionable suburb of Bombay, we were
talking about snakes and their habits
when snake charner stopped before
the veransla. and asked if he might